Lib Dem MP Tessa Munt accused of a council tax fiddle AND an affair

Under fire: Lib Dem MP Tessa Munt is facing calls to quit less than three months after her election victory but she denies any wrongdoing

She was swept to Westminster on a tide of optimism as fed-up voters rejected the sitting MP and his large expenses claims.

Tessa Munt clinched the seat for the Lib Dems after the defeated Tory
spent most of the election campaign defending his second-home
allowances.

But less than three months after her victory, Mrs Munt is facing extraordinary questions about her own conduct.

And if voters had hoped for a breath of fresh air, their new MP has
managed to attract attention for a whole host of wrong reasons -
ranging from accusations of being a council tax cheat to claims that she
had an affair with a married GP who became her live-in lover.

In
a bizarre twist, throw into the mix troubled BBC DJ Andy Kershaw -
said to have been living with her too while allegedly being in breach of
a restraining order obtained by his ex-partner - and the 'new broom'
MP for Wells in Somerset looks decidedly tarnished.

She is now
facing calls to quit. The first light to be shone on the situation came
when Mrs Munt was threatened with action over accusations that she had
made false council tax claims.

She had claimed a single
resident's discount, worth 25 per cent off the tax, on her house in
Somerset at a time when Kershaw and a local GP, Dr John Laband, were
both registered as living there.

Mrs Munt, 50, denies any wrongdoing, and insists the BBC man was never actually living there - only his dog was.

The GP and the DJ: It is claimed John Laband (left), a married doctor, had an affair with Mrs Munt and DJ Andy Kershaw is said to have been living with her

And she explained that the GP was merely a friend in need, who was getting divorced and briefly needed 'a place to stay'.

At least, that is what she said when first asked about the situation.

Yesterday, however, Dr Laband's wife put a rather different gloss on matters by accusing the MP and her husband of having an affair. Claire Laband even claims the affair was the reason for the divorce.

She has issued a devastating statement to officials at Sedgemoor District Council, which is investigating the council tax 'irregularity'.

Crowded house? Mrs Munt's home in Somerset

A source at the council said Mrs Laband, who is also a Somerset GP, had described the circumstances in which her husband went to live with Mrs Munt in 2008, after 20 years of marriage and four children.

The source said: 'She told us Tessa Munt had been having an affair with her husband at the time. She said it was "the beginning and end" of why the marriage had failed.'

Dr Laband moved into a room in the MP's house - now her constituency home - and she started charging him £200-a-month rent, according to his wife's statement.

'So as well as wrongly claiming a single person's discount on her council tax, she said that Mrs Munt was actually receiving income from the man who was her lover and lodger,' said the council source.

Convent-educated Mrs Munt was also married but has been separated from her husband Martin, with whom she has three children, since before the alleged affair with Dr Laband.

After living with her for ten months, the GP moved out, and now lives near Bristol. Mrs Munt has a new partner who lives close to her house in the village of Mark.

Yesterday the former Conservative MP who was narrowly beaten by Mrs Munt at the General Election called for her to stand down.

Former Paymaster General David Heathcoat-Amory, who was ejected by voters after scrutiny of his £30,000 second-home expenses which included receipts for manure, condemned his replacement.

He said: 'This sounds like more Liberal Democrat hypocrisy over sleaze. If this is confirmed, she should live up to her promises during the campaign over transparency and openness and resign the seat.'

Challenged about the alleged affair, Mrs Munt said she was not aware of the statement by Claire Laband to the council. 'I did not know about that. I did not know about the contents,' she said.

Asked if there was any truth to the claims, she repeated the same line. When asked if she was denying the claims, she replied: 'It does not count as a denial. I am not accepting or denying anything.'

Dr Laband, who is a local Lib Dem councillor, has been advised by party lawyers not to comment.

Mrs Laband declined to discuss the case.

Mrs Munt has also had to explain why Kershaw was listed as living in her house while allegedly in breach of a restraining order involving his ex-partner Juliette Banner on the Isle of Man.

The MP has described Kershaw as a 'good friend for over ten years', who had visited her at the address while on holiday from the Isle of Man in 2008, 'bringing his backpack and dog with him'.

Mrs Munt said: 'He went off to visit friends in Liverpool and Derbyshire while I looked after his dog. Surely having someone else's dog living with me does not mean I have to pay council tax for it too.'

She said Kershaw and Dr Laband were on the electoral roll at her address because neither had a permanent UK home. Electoral rules allow people who live outside the UK to register at a British address.